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Main Authors: Angus, Scott, Browell, Jethro, Greenwood, David, Deakin, Matthew
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11905
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author Angus, Scott
Browell, Jethro
Greenwood, David
Deakin, Matthew
author_facet Angus, Scott
Browell, Jethro
Greenwood, David
Deakin, Matthew
contents Low voltage (LV) distribution transformers face accelerating demand growth while replacement lead times and costs continue to rise, making improved utilisation of existing assets essential. Static and conservative protection devices (PDs) in distribution transformers are inflexible and limit the available headroom of the transformer. This paper presents a probabilistic framework for dynamically forecasting optimal thermal protection settings. The proposed approach directly predicts the day-ahead scale factor which maximises the dynamic thermal rating of the transformer from historical load, temperature, and metadata using clustered quantile regression models trained on 644 UK LV transformers. Probabilistic forecasting quantifies overheating risk directly through the prediction percentile, enabling risk-informed operational decisions. Results show a 10--12\% additional capacity gain compared to static settings, with hotspot temperature risk matching the selected percentile, including under realistic temperature forecast errors. These results demonstrate a practical approach for distribution network operators to take advantage of PDs with adaptive settings to maximise capacity and manage risk on operational time scales.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_11905
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Risk-Based Dynamic Thermal Rating in Distribution Transformers via Probabilistic Forecasting
Angus, Scott
Browell, Jethro
Greenwood, David
Deakin, Matthew
Systems and Control
Low voltage (LV) distribution transformers face accelerating demand growth while replacement lead times and costs continue to rise, making improved utilisation of existing assets essential. Static and conservative protection devices (PDs) in distribution transformers are inflexible and limit the available headroom of the transformer. This paper presents a probabilistic framework for dynamically forecasting optimal thermal protection settings. The proposed approach directly predicts the day-ahead scale factor which maximises the dynamic thermal rating of the transformer from historical load, temperature, and metadata using clustered quantile regression models trained on 644 UK LV transformers. Probabilistic forecasting quantifies overheating risk directly through the prediction percentile, enabling risk-informed operational decisions. Results show a 10--12\% additional capacity gain compared to static settings, with hotspot temperature risk matching the selected percentile, including under realistic temperature forecast errors. These results demonstrate a practical approach for distribution network operators to take advantage of PDs with adaptive settings to maximise capacity and manage risk on operational time scales.
title Risk-Based Dynamic Thermal Rating in Distribution Transformers via Probabilistic Forecasting
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11905